


The Aftermath of Love

by lossit_bay



Series: Soulmates [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, kinda gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-06-29 20:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19838056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lossit_bay/pseuds/lossit_bay
Summary: Nine or none. They're bound by more than words now. Having a soulmate as an idol was difficult. Having eight might shatter their dream just when it was so tantalizingly close to reality





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whereisthedamnlostandfound](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whereisthedamnlostandfound/gifts).



> This addition was never going to happen but thank you to @whereisthedamnlostandfound for asking the questions I had to answer.

Soulmate marks used to be special. 

Back before the technological revolution the ability to write directly to someone in real time no matter where they were was a gift. Now with smartphones and unlimited texts it was much easier just to text than find a pen. More private too.

Idols didn't get much privacy and with soulmate marks that was no exception. Their skin was scrutinised at every moment by hungry fans looking for any sign that they were the one. Or that another idol was the one. That was always the worse.

Some companies claimed to treat their idols with a lotion that prevented marks being drawn. Whether it was true was irrelevant. As long as their skin stayed clear it kept the fantasies alive, kept the money flowing in.

Other companies embraced it, playing into popular ships with stray doodles that could easily have been drawn twice by a stylist. Never confirmed, never denied. That brought the money too. 

A few idols had been caught out with what appeared to be real soulmate marks. That always sparked media frenzy. _Is it platonic? Is it romantic? How does this affect your group dynamic? When did the marks start to appear?_ And then there was the ugly side. _Is this just for attention? Can you not get enough with your voices and your dancing? How could you betray X like that? Is it even real? Prove it. Show us everything._

That almost never went well. Most groups ended up disbanded or with lost members, unable to handle that kind of attack on their personal life. Those that stayed always kept a solid wall up. There was no other way to do it. Stop feeding the monster you created and maybe you can control it long enough to rule the world.

And then of course, as love dies and friendships fade, some bonds broke. The magic ends in an instant, destroyed by the consequences of its own making.

Hyunjin didn't want that. He didn't want any of that. He just wanted to debut with his group and live his dream. Of course, the life of an idol is never that simple.

They had had a massive fight, the nine of them. It slowly escalated on their walk home and exploded the second the front door to their dorm shut. Yelling and throwing shit across the room. Hyunjin broke at least two glasses and cried the entire time. Eventually they wore themselves out and reached a conclusion. 

***

"We're going to be ok, Jinnie," Woojin soothed, stroking Hyunjin's hair as the boy hiccuped in his lap.  
"You, don't, know, that" Hyunjin said shakily.  
"We'll be ok," Woojin repeated as he wiped the final tears from Hyunjin's cheeks. 

Seungmin came over with a cloth that smelled horrible and carefully wiped down their arms, removing any last trace of their mark. Woojin thanked him quietly and Seungmin offered them a sad smile before moving on.

Hyunjin felt awful. He was sitting here crying in Woojin's arms like a _baby_ when he had no right to be upset. Woojin whispered soothing words to calm Hyunjin down, not giving a second to himself and his sacrifice for his younger members.

Hyunjin hadn't wanted a soulmate with all eight of his band mates and his screaming had got him that. Or as close to that as he could get to that without breaking hearts. 

They had agreed not to use the mark. It was too risky with a growing fanbase and with so many members it was impossible to guarantee all nine of them would be out of sight of prying eyes until it was washed off. 

However, they still had to take precautions against fans or even staff marking them where it would show up on the others. Changbin, Felix and Seungmin had been all for telling management everything but others were more hesitant. 

Chan, for one, didn't trust that their mark wouldn't be used as a promotion device and he didn't want the younger boys under such scrutiny by the public. Chan did the same thing he always did and took the extra pressure on himself. Hyunjin loved him and hated him for it.

***

"Tomorrow at 11am, Woojinnie," Chan said quietly, touching the older boy on the arm as he re-entered the room. Seven pairs of eyes followed the interaction closely.

Woojin nodded, smiling at Chan. It didn't reach his eyes. "With JYP PD-nim?"  
"The boss man himself," Chan confirmed.  
"You really are his favourite," Woojin teased.  
"Let's hope it stays that way," Chan breathed out, slumping down next to them.

One by one the other boys gathered, crowding onto the couch and sitting on pillows and laps alike. Seungmin didn't like physical contact when he was upset but he sat at their feet and slung one of Hyunjin's long legs over his shoulder. His tight grip on Hyunjin's ankle was warm and grounding like Woojin's arm around his shoulders and Changbin's head on his thigh.

“Can we order takeout?” Felix piped up after not even thirty seconds of companionable silence.  
“I want chinese food,” Minho agreed and sparked an onslaught of mouth-watering suggestions.

Changbin lost rock paper scissors to make the phone call, and everyone’s orders mixed together into perfectly reasonable dishes in the effort to be heard first. It didn’t help that Jisung changed his mind at least three times.

“Stop. Stoooop! Changbin yelled over them. “ I need to write this down or I’ll get it wrong.”  
_‘1 chicken chow mein, 1 prawn crackers’_ appeared in a crowded letters on his outstretched arm.  
Hyunjin whirled around. “Who the fuck is using me as a notepad?”  
Jeongin’s ears reddened and he ducked his head, subconsciously hiding behind Chan. “I thought it would be helpful,” he whispered.  
Hyunjin’s anger immediately deflated. No matter how scared this made him Jeongin didn’t deserve that. “It’s fine, Innie,” Hyunjin sighed. “As long as everyone washes it off as soon as we’re done.”

Though he couldn’t feel the pressure of them writing, watching words appear still made him skin crawl and Hyunjin turned his face up to the ceiling to ignore it all.  
“You’re doing well Hyunjinnie,” Chan said, ruffling his hair. “Do you want me to add your order for you?”  
“Just add a tally to whatever,” Hyunjin still didn’t look down. “I don’t want more marks.”  
“All done,” Chan assured him. “Just give Binnie a minute to put the order in and we can wash it off again.”

Hyunjin let Changbin’s rasping voice wash over him as Seungmin traced circles on his ankle. It brought his attention away from his wrist long enough for the marks to be erased again but his mind still drifted to the future ink that would appear. From now until forever it would never be just him. That thought terrified him in ways he couldn’t express.


	2. Chapter 2

Hyunjin shared his bed with Jisung that night. They went to bed early while others stayed up to talk. Hyunjin let Jisung crawl on top of him, the warm weight of him pushing down on his chest and compressing the panic into something smaller. 

Seungmin sat opposite them on his crisply folded sheets, playing with his phone. Them being in bed early was probably messing with his routine. It was safe to guess that the whole afternoon had messed with his routine but Seungmin was handling the change a lot better than Hyunjin and Jisung.

"Seungminnie, sing to us," Jisung requested, sneaking his hand under the collar of Hyunjin's t-shirt to curl over his collarbone.  
"Sing to yourself," Seungmin replied, sticking out his tongue.  
"Minnnniiee," Jisung whined. "Please."   
"I don't want to sing our songs," Seungmin mumbled and even though Hyunjin couldn't see his face he could tell the younger boy was cracking.  
"Day6 then," Hyunjin suggested. "Or that pretty English one you learned.

"You too, Jinnie?" Seungmin sighed but he was only pretending to be grumpy. If he really didn't want to sing they'd know about it. "Let me get the lyrics up."

"Love you, Minnie," Hyunjin said almost reflexively. It was true though. The marks that had appeared that afternoon proved that more than anything. He loved Seungmin and all of his band mates so purely and completely a link had formed that couldn't be broken by anything but themselves.

"It's about heartbreak," Seungmin warned them. "Do you still want me to sing that one?"  
"I don't understand English," Hyunjin reminded him. "It sounds nice."  
"Sing it if you want to, Minnie," Jisung added. "It's pretty even if it's sad." He rolled off Hyunjin to curl into his side and Hyunjin could finally turn his head to smile encouragingly at Seungmin.

Seungmin pushed his shoulders back and tilted his chin. Hyunjin half expected him to stand and clasp his hands behind his back as if he was in a lesson but the younger boy just cleared his throat and began to sing. 

It was much slower than the original, almost a lullaby and without the backing track the skill in Seungmin's pure notes shone. Hyunjin tried to keep his eyes open so he could praise the singer once he was finished but sleep and Jisung's steady breathing at his side dragged him under.

***  
When Hyunjin stumbled into the bathroom the next morning he was shocked to alertness by the sight of Minho pushing Changbin up against the shower wall.

"Uhhh," Hyunjin said intelligently, frozen in the doorway.  
"It's not what it looks like!" Changbin said hurriedly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His entire face was turning beet red and he shoved Minho away from him.  
"It's definitely what it looks like," Minho said with a lazy grin. He knocked the lid of the toilet down and sat on it, wiggling his eyebrows at Hyunjin.

"It looked like you were kissing," Hyunjin said hesitantly. He was acutely aware that the door was open behind him and any other member could walk in and see them in this strange stare off.  
"We were actually making out," Minho said, matter-of-factly.   
Changbin whined and sunk to the floor to curl up in a ball.  
"There's a difference?" Hyunjin asked. Changbin whined again and tipped onto one side. Hyunjin thought it was unwise to have your face that close to the bathroom floor but then again Changbin did just have Minho's tongue down his throat so maybe that didn't matter.

"There is a difference, my sweet Hyunjinnie," Minho said. "Would you like to learn."  
"I think you killed Changbin-hyung," Hyunjin said instead of answering.  
"I blew Binnie's tiny mind is what I did," Minho said proudly.  
Changbin groaned and sat up pouting. "Hyuuuung, please stop. I'm too young to die."

"Was it good?" Minho asked cockily. Hyunjin watched as Changbin squirmed under Minho's gaze.  
"Hyung."  
"Binnie."  
"Hyuuuung."  
Minho raised one sculpted eyebrow.  
"Yes, fine! It was good. You were good."

"You still haven't explained why you were making out in the bathroom." Hyunjin reminded them. At this point he felt he deserved to know, even if it was just to avoid future recurrences.  
"I-" Changbin looked up at Hyunjin and then quickly down at his feet. "I was wondering if our soulmate bond was platonic or romantic," he said, the words running together at an incredible speed. "So Hyung said he'd kiss me to find out."

"And?" Hyunjin asked. "Is it platonic or romantic?" He didn't think he minded much either way. It was the mark part of soulmates he disliked, not the company.  
"That requires further testing," Minho smirked. He cocked his head in a 'come hither' motion and Hyunjin scrambled out the room. At the last second he grabbed Changbin's hand and pulled the boy out of Minho's reach. Nobody was safe.

"Minho-hyung is trying to make out with everyone," Hyunjin said in greeting as he entered the kitchen.  
"Oh?" Chan lifted his head in interest.  
"No, Channie," Woojin cuffed him around the back of his head. "We'll be late."

"Do we have to make out with Minho-hyung?" Felix asked earnestly.  
"No, Lixie," Jisung replied, shoveling the last of his eggs into his mouth. "You don't have to make out with Minho-hyung. _I'm_ going to though." He got up as Minho entered the room and pushed the older boy back into the living room.  
"We don't have time!" Seungmin yelled after them. "You fuckers better be ready in 15 minutes!"

***

They were late. 

Not that it really mattered for most of them. Chan and Woojin hurried off ahead to their meeting with JYP but everyone else made their way to the practice room.

Hyunjin distracted himself by standing close to the mirror with his headphones in. He danced hard, staring down his imperfections with a critical eye. He still wasn't sharp enough, not expressive enough. He needed to be better. Needed to be more. 

Hyunjin was reminded of a particular _more_ he had been trying to forget as _I love you_ appeared on the back of his hand. He yanked off his headphones as the anxiety began bubbling in his chest again and joined the huddle sitting on the floor. Felix offered an awkward smile and patted Hyunjin's hand.   
"That's Woojin-hyung." Minho said pointlessly. 

No doubt JYP was testing if the oldest members were telling the truth. As long as nobody checked this practice room while the meeting was in progress they would be in the clear. Chan and Woojin had promised Hyunjin to wash off the marks as soon as they left the room and he knew they would keep their word. He just had to endure it a little longer.

"Come on, Chan-Hyung," Hyunjin muttered, tracing over Woojin's declaration. "Come on."  
Eventually slow deliberate strokes appeared below the letters.  
"It's his dinosaur!" Jeongin exclaimed after two lines and Hyunjin only understood once the outline was finished.  
"Nine lines. Subtle, Hyung," Changbin snorted. Hyunjin personally thought it was a level of subtly JYP would never notice considering the man felt the urge to whisper his own name in every song he wrote.

 _Jinnie, I love you_ was hastily written under it in tiny letters. Surely that wasn't part of the test? It was far too small.  
"That's for you," Seungmin nudged Hyunjin.  
"No it's not," Hyunjin scoffed. "He's with Woojin-hyung, pretending to be only his soulmate."  
"And Chan-hyung knows that you’re panicking right now.”  
“I’m not panicking,” Hyunjin felt his face reddening as he noticed Chan’s message on Seungmin’s hand too. And Jeongin’s. And everywhere he looked. 

Strangely, the panic lessened. They did love him. Every one of them, even if they hadn’t written the message it was still true. He trusted them with it, Hyunjin realised. He was never just a notepad for them.  
“You can use the mark,” he said, watching Jisung memorising the shape of Chan’s dinosaur. “I won’t freak out anymore.”

“But you don’t like it,” Felix said, as if that was a perfectly reasonable excuse to ruin something so intimate and special.   
“I’m one of nine,” Hyunjin replied, tapping the dinosaur on Felix’s hand. “I can be a little unhappy sometimes if it makes more of you happy.”  
Changbin crossed their haphazard circle and flopped down in Hyunjin’s lap. “Hmmm, no.” He reached up a hand and cupped Hyunjin’s cheek. “You’re not allowed to be unhappy for us.”  
“But-”  
Jeongin copied Changbin, smiling blindingly up at Hyunjin in contrast to Changbin’s soft gaze. “Not allowed, Hyung.”

Hyunjin was overwhelmed by how much he cared for these boys. He brought Changbin's hand to his lips and kissed his palm, watching Changbin's face light up as he did so.  
"Lixie!" Changbin called, rolling into his side but not leaving Hyunjin's lap. "I got a Hyunjin kiss!" He thrust his hand towards the Australian's face. 

"I saw, Hyung," Felix humoured him. "You've got three out of eight now."  
Changbin gasped and rolled over. Hyunjin winced preemptively but Changbin miraculously didn't hurt him.  
"Innie, I need a kiss," Changbin said deadly serious.   
Jeongin shot out of Hyunjin's lap and retreated to Seungmin's side. "No."  
"Seungminnie?"  
"Also no."  
"Jisungie?"  
"I'm busy."

Jisung was thoroughly wrapped in Minho's limbs, leaning back against the older boy's chest. He looked very comfortable and slightly sleepy.  
"You can make out with Sungie later," Minho suggested as Jisung snuggled closer. "He likes tongue."  
"Hyung!" Jisung protested weakly.  
"What? You're soulmates, he deserves to know." Minho was grinning wickedly, enjoying this far too much. "Maybe you can teach him how to use skills as a rapper to his full advantage. I think Binnie's a bit inexperienced."

"Hyung!" Changbin squeaked.  
"He's your soulmate, he deserves to know."  
Seungmin laughed a little too loudly at that and Minho's sharp gaze turned to him. "Do you need an evaluation too, Minnie min?"

Before Seungmin could splutter out a reply the practice room door banged as it was opened with a little too much force and slammed into the wall.   
"What's happening here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that got gay very quickly


	3. Chapter 3

“What’s happening here?” Chan asked, his eyebrows creasing as he took in their odd configuration on the floor. Minho was clinging to Jisung like a limpet and Jeongin had pulled Seungmin in front of him as a personal shield against Changbin who was still laying his head in Hyunjin’s lap. Felix was the least entangled though he had at some point sneakily linked hands with Changbin.

“Minho-hyung is bullying me!” Changbin called, sitting up to point petulantly at him.  
“No he’s not,” Woojin said confidently, closing the door and splaying a hand on Chan’s back as they walked over. They looked comfortable together and if Hyunjin didn’t know better he would think they’d been dating a while.

Nobody else seemed to find their actions unusual. If anything, the oldest two looked to be mere acquaintances next to Jisung and Minho.  
_Shitting hell, how long has this been happening??_ Hyunjin thought. Oblivious to his inner turmoil, the conversion continued around him with Minho stirring up trouble for the fun of it. 

Not everyone was participating however. Seungmin was tilting his head at Hyunjin in the way that meant _I'm here if you need me to listen._ Jeongin, who was sitting right between them, would hear but Hyunjin trusted him to keep a secret. Or rather, Hyunjin had too much dirt on him for the younger boy to risk otherwise.

"Jisungie and Minho-hyung?" Hyunjin whispered to Seungmin, after sliding over on the polished floor and grabbing Jeongin to stop his momentum carrying him further towards couple territory. "How long?"  
Seungmin looked to Jeongin who shrugged and tried to free his foot from Hyunjin's grasp. It was a fool's endeavor. Hyunjin had only settled for his foot in the first place because he knew Jeongin would attract too much attention if he went for a hug. That foot was his.

Displeased that he had lost Jeongin’s attention, Seungmin stole Jeongin's shoe and launched it across the practice room. Apparently, he hadn't gotten the memo about not attracting attention.

"It's been building," Seungmin answered Hyunjin, thankfully vague enough that Minho found nothing out of the ordinary as Jeongin's shoe smacked into the mirror.  
"And Chan-hyung and Woojin-hyung?" Hyunjin asked.  
"Ew, no." Jeongin said, freeing his foot now there was no shoe to hinder him.  
Seungmin's look pinned them both as idiots. "Months."  
"Months?!" Hyunjin and Jeongin echoed in joint horror.

"You guys ok over there?" Chan asked with genuine concern.  
Jeongin met his eyes and squeaked, ears flushing bright red.  
"Are they corrupting you, Innie?" Woojin guessed. "It's probably lies."  
"Oh _sure, we're_ corrupting him," Seungmin drawled.  
Hyunjin hit him on the arm with slightly more force than he had intended and had to lunge to prevent Seungmin falling face-first into the hard floor.  
“We’re fine,” Hyunjin said sweetly. Seungmin shoved him off but allowed the apology kisses Hyunjin pressed to his temple so Hyunjin figured he wasn’t blacklisted for the time being.

Jeongin scrambled across the room to retrieve his shoe and then seemed at a loss as to where to sit back down. In his indecision Chan pulled him down into his lap.  
“Jinyoung-hyung agreed to set up protections against revealing the soulmark between me and Woojinnie.” Chan smiled ruefully. “ And since we’re a self-made group he agreed to extend the same precautions to all of you.”  
“He seemed slightly concerned that Channie and I were the two to bond out of everyone." Woojin rolled his eyes.

“He thought it would be me and Felix?” Changbin sighed. “Lix, this is why you don’t show you’re excited when a boy kisses you on national TV,” Changbin said wearily. He was still holding Felix’s hand but indifferently because he was a cool hyung.  
“Ah, so you only show you’re excited when a boy kisses you in the bathroom _when it’s not your bathroom timeslot?”_ Hyunjin retorted.  
“Hwang Hyunjin, if you don’t shut up right now-” Changbin growled  
“What? You’ll kiss me? I heard you’re not very good,” Hyunjin had adrenaline pumping through his veins and about half a foot of height on Changbin. He was invincible.

Unfortunately, Chan had been up all night and wasn’t in the mood to watch two of his bandmates beat the shit out of each other.  
“Hyunjin! Please stop picking fights, I know you love us. Are you really that desperate to be punched in the face? Changbin. That-” Chan pointed at Hyunjin, “was flirting. Bad flirting, yes, but still flirting. Stop trying to punch people taller than you just because you think it might be an insult.”  
“I was _not_ flirting,” Hyunjin said indignantly.  
“You were flirting,” Woojin, Minho and Seungmin said in the same bored tone. 

“To be fair, Hyunjinnie flirts with everyone he meets except Jisungie,” Felix added, not helping the situation in the slightest.  
“ _Jisung_ is the only person I don’t flirt with?” Hyunjin didn’t know how this week could have more life-altering revelations but it kept happening.  
“Why do you think I was so pissed off?” Jisung shot back, pushing himself out of Minho’s arms.  
“The whole time. _That_ was your problem?”  
“ _Yes!”_  
“Oh my god,” Chan muttered under his breath, burying his face in Jeongin’s hair. He really thought this was over by now.

“Sorry I never flirted with you?” Hyunjin tried, aware that everyone in the room was watching tensely as he and Jisung had yet another face-off.  
“It’s fine, I’m over it,” Jisung said flippantly.  
“No you’re not,” Hyunjin said. His eyes widened and gasped sharply, realising he’d argued with Jisung again. Chan was going to kill him.  
“Yeah, You know what? I’m not over it,” He’d really set Jisung off now and the younger boy crawled across the room and sat himself pointedly in front of Hyunjin. “Flirt with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what the hell have i done here?
> 
> i have no idea how to tag the relationships here anymore. i count maybe 7? pairs in this chapter alone. basically this is ot9 culture and someone should make bingo cards for which kisses happen first.


	4. Chapter 4

Jisung crawled across the room and sat himself pointedly in front of Hyunjin. “Flirt with me.”

 _“Now?”_  
"I've waited long enough," Jisung retorted, pushing back his hair. "Flirt with me."  
"I can't," Hyunjin said, suddenly very hot and flustered. He’d watched hundreds of dramas and memorised all the best moments but now, with Jisung staring him down with those big, hopefully eyes he couldn’t remember a single line. "I don't know what to do."  
"You can do it." Jisung pushed. "You flirt all the time."  
"I can't," Hyunjin roared, making Jisung flinch back. That was easier. Hyunjin could breathe again.

Chan had had enough and wordlessly signalled to Changbin to separate them. Poor Changbin was too caring and had often felt the brunt of their displaced emotions. This time, however, Jisung went quietly as Changbin pulled him back by his waist.  
"Why would anyone want to flirt with you, huh?" Changbin teased Jisung, squishing his cheeks. "Such cute puffy cheeks like a baby. Nobody wants to flirt with a baby."  
"I'm hot!" Jisung protested. "I am!" He wriggled out of Changbin's grip and looked around the circle. "Why are you all silent? Somebody agree with me!"  
The silence was broken by a quiet giggle Jeongin couldn't quite hold in. At Jisung look of betrayal he squeaked and hid his face in Chan’s sleeve.

"Minho-hyung!" Jisung said, spinning to face the boy. "You kissed me this morning. You think I'm hot, right?"  
"You're very cute, Jisungie," Minho laughed. Even if he did think Jisung was hot, there was no way he'd admit to it when he could get a better reaction by lying. That was just the way Minho was.  
"I _am_ hot," Jisung said petulantly. "Just wait until we have fans and they're all drooling over my good looks."  
"They'll drool over Hyunjinnie," Seungmin pointed out. "He's the one that's stupid pretty."  
Hyunjin didn't know whether to be offended or flattered.

“You’re all ugly as fuck,” Jeongin cut in. “Chan-hyung, you had better write us good songs because we won’t win any awards for our looks with your ugly faces in the lineup.”  
Hyunjin was definitely offended by that one and he wasn’t the only one.  
“Yah! Yang Jeongin, you cheeky-” Felix lunged at him and Jeongin tried to jump up to escape but Chan helped pin him down.

“Our maknae is the devil,” Seungmin commently fondly as Jeongin was smothered in aggressive affection.  
“He is, but if anyone says something bad about him I’ll hit them.” Hyunjin vowed. He was going to become an idol and should protect his image but Hyunjin took his position as Jeongin’s hyung very seriously, both at work and at school, image be damned. He was Jeongin’s soulmate now too, a position of even greater reverence, and that only strengthened Hyunjin’s desire to move the earth for the younger boy.  
“We need to get you into boxing or something now you’ve not got Sungie to release your anger at,” Changbin mused. Hyunjin raised a fist at him.

“Or,” Woojin said, grabbing each boy by the arm and pulling them to standing. “We could all actually start dance practice and Hyunjin could blow off steam that way.” He smiled dangerously. “How does that sound?”  
Hyunjin made a mental note not to piss off Woojin. While Chan was well-known throughout JYP for his silent, calm anger there was something behind Woojin’s eyes that said he had seen the ugly side of the world and been unimpressed. That, and the way Woojin could lift two boys simultaneously without breaking a sweat. Hyunjin joined the chorus of ‘yes, Woojin-hyung’ and started on his warm-up.

***  
When Chan finally called an end to their practice Hyunjin lay down and made sweat angels on the floor. It was gross. He was gross. He needed a shower ASAP.  
“Why is Hyunjin so hot when he’s sweaty?” Felix asked the room.  
Chan commented something sarcastically in English as Felix flopped down next to Hyunjin. Shoving his face in Hyunjin’s dripping hair.  
“Your sweat doesn’t even smell bad,” Felix said and yeah, that was probably the weirdest compliment Hyunjin had ever received.  
“Thanks?”

“If we leave you two here with Minho will you get work done or just lie on the floor together?” Chan asked from the door. Jisung was already gone to buy snacks before 3RACHA started on a long producing session.  
“We’ll get up,” Felix promised. “Minho’s teaching us how to walk and body roll at the same time.”  
“With Jeongin there?” Chan directed his question to Minho, his voice tense with stress.  
“It’s an important baseline skill, Hyung.” Minho defended his plan. “Innie said he wanted to learn.”

Chan looked torn but ultimately the pressure of deadlines won over and he decided to leave them to it. “Call if you need me. Any of you.”  
“We’ll write HELP across your forehead.” Minho grinned.  
Chan clutched his heart. “Minnie, I’ll have a stroke one day thanks to you. Please do not write ‘help’ on my forehead. One, I wouldn’t see it. Two, it would be on everyone’s forehead and the staff would definitely notice. Three, we said we wouldn’t use the mark for Hyunjin.”  
“Hyunjin doesn’t mind.” Minho said. Hyunjin knew he wouldn’t do it without asking, Minho was just getting a rise out of Chan. Hyunjin could get behind that.  
“I don’t mind,” he piped up, pushing off Felix who had wormed his way closer and was making them both unnecessarily sweatier.

“I- Can you- Just-,” Chan couldn’t find the end to a sentence and gave up with a sigh. “I’ll be in the studio. If you need me, _text me._ ” Hyunjin felt an overwhelming urge to write _I love you, Channie_ on the back of his hand and ask Changbin to film Chan’s reaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi chan's english comment to felix was 'keep it in your pants'
> 
> so hyunjin if finally coming to terms with the soulmark :) I'm tempted to finish it here as that finally answers the questions of 'will they be ok? how will this affect their dynamic?' but i might write a kind of closing epilogue too. that would be cute


End file.
